


It Was Only a Kiss

by musicofthespheres



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: (I'm sorry Yamcha this one's from Vegeta's point of view), 3 year gap, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 15:34:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15688329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicofthespheres/pseuds/musicofthespheres
Summary: Bulma and Yamcha's relationship is in its death throes, even Vegeta can see that. He does something about it that surprises even himself.





	1. It Was Only a Kiss

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Super_Saiyanerd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Saiyanerd/gifts).



> Thanks to [rockykelboa](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rockykelboa) for the quick beta on this. <3

_Thump, thumpthumpthump, thump thump, SLAM_. 

Vegeta stared at his ceiling with teeth gritted together. This was the third time this week that his _gracious host_ had awoken him with her heavy steps (seriously, how could a woman so tiny produce footsteps so loud?) and door-slamming. He groaned and rolled over with a pillow over his ears as the sound of her crying echoed through the walls. 

The next morning, Bulma presented herself at breakfast with dark circles under her eyes. 

Vegeta had already put in three hours of training, so when he arrived at the breakfast table, he slammed down a bucketful of parts and sparking wires. “It’s broken,” he said. 

Bulma stared at him, mouth slightly agape and brows furrowed. “And?” she said slowly. 

Vegeta rolled his eyes. “Fix it, woman.” 

“ _Fix it, woman_ ,” she replied in an infuriatingly mocking manner. “Good morning to you, too, your royal highness. Have you already forgotten the manners I’ve taught you?” 

“Perhaps so with all the sleep you robbed me of last night.” 

Bulma’s father’s eyes nearly bugged out and he sputtered on his coffee. Dr. Briefs glanced between his house guest and his daughter, confused by their hostility--especially after what their alien visitor had just implied. 

Panchy set down her tea. “Bulma, dear, is that Yamcha still giving you trouble?” 

Vegeta bristled at the name of that weak fool that Bulma had apparently chosen as a mate. The man irritated him to no end, and Vegeta would’ve thought the heiress would have better taste than that. 

Bulma eyed Vegeta angrily before turning toward her mother with a carefully neutral expression. “He asked me out to dinner last night to say sorry, but he stood me up! Then he had the audacity to call and say he had ‘car trouble’ and no access to a phone!” 

Vegeta rolled his eyes. Add unreliable to the weakling’s list of faults. He finished off his breakfast and left the table without another word. As he left the room, he overheard Panchy asking Bulma if she should uninvite Yamcha from the gala tonight, or if it was too late at this point. 

“Don’t bother,” Bulma muttered. “I’d like to give him a piece of mind in person.”

xoxox

One of the conditions Vegeta had to fulfill if he wanted the gravity room to stay in good repair was that he had to attend events like this one whenever Bulma asked. He hummed discontentedly at his bowtie, which wasn’t cooperating, as waiters and other staff brought out the food for the buffet. At least he was allowed to eat to his heart’s content.

The hair on the back of his neck bristled; he could sense the weakling’s familiar _ki_ approaching alongside the other guests. Vegeta gave up on the bowtie and retreated up the stairs to watch from the mezzanine. 

Bulma did an expert job at fielding her guests, greeting each of them and their spouses and inviting them into the party. She wore a deep blue dress that hugged her body; it was the same colour as his battle outfit but glittered like a thousand stars under the ballroom’s enormous chandelier. 

But then _he_ showed up. The scar-faced wimp with the ridiculous hair. Vegeta watched with morbid fascination as Bulma greeted him with a formal bow instead of the familiarity she’d afforded to her other guests. It gave him a deep sense of satisfaction to watch the man squirm. They entered the room side by side, and Vegeta lost sight of them as they walked below the mezzanine. 

Moments later (less than two minutes, he checked), Bulma went storming back out into the ballroom, the throng of guests parting to let her through. The weakling chased after her and out the door. 

When she returned, she was alone and miserable. 

With the threat of annoyance now passed, Vegeta made his way back down the grand, curved staircase. Bulma was easy enough to spot in the crowd: her brilliant blue hair stood out among a sea of blonde, black, and auburn. By the time he reached her, she was standing at the bar with a half-finished glass of champagne in her hand. 

She turned toward him and sniffled angrily. “Come to make fun of me for my ‘weakness’?” she asked, glaring defiantly at him. 

“I came to see if I can leave yet,” he replied. 

“You’ve barely been here half an hour. You’re staying.” 

Vegeta sighed and rolled his eyes. It was like she didn’t _want_ him to achieve the legendary at this point. Did she not care about the fate of her stupid little rock of a planet at all? Whatever. Might as well try to make conversation--maybe she’d get so upset with him that she would ask him to leave. “I see you finally kicked that idiot to the curb,” he said, nodding toward the door. 

Fresh tears sprang to Bulma’s eyes, and she wiped them with the back of her hand. “He’s not-” _sniff_ “-an idiot. I just don’t understand why he doesn’t want to spend any time with me.” 

_Isn’t it obvious?_ Vegeta thought, but instead of speaking out loud and receiving her ire, he helped himself to a bottle of imported beer. “You humans with your complex emotions. It’s not that hard. You are an alpha female, and he is not an alpha male.” 

Bulma looked at him oddly, tilting her head. She looked like she was about to say something, but then she closed her mouth and thought better of it. She knew he was right. 

Vegeta had a deep sense of foreboding in his gut that the weakling was going to return sometime later this evening. He’d seen this exact scenario played out once before--and this public display of relationship troubles reminded Vegeta time and again than Saiyans were still the superior race. 

His premonition was proved true when the weakling burst through the door an hour and a half later. Vegeta had been watching Bulma mingling with the other guests, the misery in her face hidden by her carefully crafted public persona, when he sensed the other _ki_ approaching again. He moved toward her out of some deep seated protective instinct. 

Her apparent shock and surprise at Yamcha’s reappearance were quickly crowded out by her anger. Vegeta turned to the door to see Yamcha striding toward Bulma purposefully with a bouquet of roses in his hand. 

Bulma looked like she was rearing up to scream a string of profanities at him when Vegeta reacted before he could think. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pressed his lips against hers, hard. 

Bulma went wide eyed. 

The weakling stopped in his tracks, mouth agape. 

And Vegeta let his senses take the reins over his self-control for just long enough to elicit shocked gasps from all around the crowded ballroom. Her lips felt so damn soft, and her taste… oh, her taste was _intoxicating_. He barely had the wherewithal to break apart from her when his lungs scream for air, but when he did, his face immediately flushed bright red. He took a step back, caught in her sharp blue gaze, before turning toward _him_. “She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Vegeta said amid scandalized murmurs from the partygoers. “Back off.” 

Bulma’s hand found his arm and gripped it, pulling herself close and in behind him. She didn’t say a word, but as Yamcha turned to leave, she leaned in to Vegeta. “What was that for?” she whispered as conversations resumed around them. 

Vegeta couldn’t bear to look at her. His heart pounded in his chest and he felt dizzy. “Consider that a favor repaid for your work on the GR,” he said, pulling away and getting the hell out of there. 

Later that night, as the party dissipated, Vegeta sat on railing of the veranda that wrapped around the second floor. The door behind him opened and he heard footsteps that stopped halfway to the edge. 

“I just wanted to say thank you,” Bulma said. “It was really… nice of you.” 

“Don’t mention it,” Vegeta replied. _Really. Don’t._ His cheeks flushed again at the thought of what he’d done. 

“Yeah, alright.” Bulma let out a breathy laugh and retreated to the door. Just before she went in, she turned back and said, “I just wanted to say that if you ever wanted to do that again… I wouldn’t say no.” 

Vegeta sat alone on on the veranda, gazing out into the night sky. For the first time in his twenty five year existence, he felt his heart pull him toward another being who, in her own fucked up way, actually cared about him. It took everything not to follow her inside.


	2. How Did It End Up Like This?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mushy as hell don't look at me

In Vegeta’s line of work, the sun’s rising was never a guarantee, so he trained like there was no tomorrow. Thoughts of the kiss echoed in his head as he pushed himself to his limits--but not beyond. He’d hit a barrier. 

Unfortunately for him, the only way past that barrier laid with the woman he couldn’t even _look_ at, much less… _ugh_. He shuddered at the vulgar thought, but his baser instincts were winning the battle against his rational brain. 

It didn’t help that the blasted woman kept sending him these furtive glances over breakfast and whenever she entered the GR to repair the training bots. He wasn’t _supposed_ to get attached, damn it! That notion had been beaten into him time and again until he’d been turned into the hyperefficient killing machine that he knew himself to be. That efficiency was just taking a hit right now, that’s all. 

He sighed. That was enough for today. Tomorrow, he’d push himself further. 

Vegeta’s route back to his room had begun taking a detour as of late. His desire to be near her overpowered every thought that screamed for him to run far away. And tonight he felt especially susceptible after his gruelling defeat at the hands of his own standards. He ran his hands down the familiar walls, distracting himself with the variance in texture and fighting his impulses. 

She was waiting for him at her bedroom door.

xoxox 

Vegeta awoke at the crack of dawn to an unfamiliar room. His mouth was parched, but he felt a looseness in his limbs. The woman still slept and would stay asleep until late in the morning, he knew.

Her bright blue hair fanned out around her head, framing her pretty face. Her features looked so soft like this; in her waking hours, they were often contorted with rage at her ex-lover, or Vegeta, or the training bots that misbehaved. In quieter moments when she thought he couldn’t see, Vegeta had caught the loneliness in her expression--he recognized on her face what he felt within himself. He was so far from home--a home that no longer existed--how did he wind up here?

As he quietly climbed out of bed and gathered his things, he looked back at her. He had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time they met like this. 

They were a comfort to each other, two lost souls who found solace for their lonely nights in each other’s arms. It hadn’t taken long for Vegeta to develop a bad case of feelings and with the aftermath of the androids and the loss of his greatest rival and therefore his chance at proving himself, he found the will to stay. She was the remedy to his past, the gateway to his future.

Now ten years on, Vegeta lays in bed with his lover-turned-wife tucked safely beside him. His son sleeps soundly in the other room. Vegeta counts the steady rate of Trunks’ heartbeat and soft breathing and is lulled to sleep himself. And when he awakes, Bulma blinks her beautiful blue eyes at him and smiles. His heart swells with the knowledge that all is well. 

This is his life. 

This is home.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://jadefyre.tumblr.com)  
>  and as always, comments are very much appreciated <3


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